Question 1

The first thing that really spoke to me in the introduction to Gilgamesh was when

they began to explain some of the Babylonian sciences, “to divination by extispicy,

astrology and mathematics, and incantations in both Sumerian and Akkadian whose

purpose was to ward off evil by magic means.” I was familiar with most of the terms,

with the exception of “extispicy” which I ended up googling and finding out refers to the

readings of organs of dead animals to predict and divine future events. I found this

exceptionally interesting and I don’t remember ever really learning about it. As said

before these were some of the most sophisticated works of science and literature, and

from what I’ve gathered these civilizations were miles ahead of us in many aspects.

People write off things like astrology and more of their “magical” practices, but I find

them super intriguing and important and I think they deserve to be given more credit

and attention.

Another thing that struck me was the story of the flood they introduced lightly,

“This tradition is implicit in the Flood story preserved in Tablet XI of Gilgamesh and in

the poem of Atram-hasis, where the mention of the craftsmen and animals taken aboard

the ark explains how it was that the skills of artisans and herdsmen (and the animal

kingdom in general) survived the catastrophe.” This was so cool to read about because

as they also touched on in only one sentence, it bears such similarities to the story of

Noah’s Ark despite being way before that story. All of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian,

and more ancient civilizations make references to a major flood with catastrophic

consequences. The fact that they even reference an ark with animals taken aboard blew
me away because I had only ever heard of this story when talking about the bible and

christianity. Similar to my first paragraph, it seems to be a common theme so far of

people not acknowledging how these civilizations paved the way for a lot of the

commonly more accepted scientific knowledge we have today.

Question 2

It was funny to me that even in these ancient times, women seducing men was

still such a prevalent theme. “He will see her, and will approach her, his herd will spurn

him, though he grew up amongst it.” It has always seemed that in stories throughout

history and even modern day, men’s supposed greatest weakness, or the one thing that

can make them cave is women and their bodies. The hunter knew this would be

something Enkidu would give in to, and it was his best idea to throw a wrench in the

plan. Lust is considered one of the seven deadly sins, and this idea of resisting

temptation from a woman goes back so far. I’m not sure the reasoning for this but it

gives insight to human nature as a whole, and how we have changed so much but

fundamentally so many things have stayed exactly the same.

In the next part when Enkidu and Gilgamesh embark on this journey together the

part that was relevant to me in all of this is how they not only are working together now,

but they become brothers. I thought this was a weird turn for the epic to take

considering Enkidu was entirely created , “to divert his (Gilgamesh’s) superhuman

energies.” I went into this assuming the two would be rivals or maybe enemies to friends

kind of story, but their relationship has a much deeper meaning. They aren’t just
companions, or even brothers but they show each other different parts of each of their

selves because they are so similarly created. I find their connections really interesting

and I think it’s an important concept to keep in mind when reading the rest of the epic,.

Question 3

Something that really interested me in Tablet 4 was when Enkidu starts

explaining the dream. “[ You saw a Thunderbird in the sky,] [up] it [rose like a] cloud,

soaring above us.” This stood out to me because if they are referring to the same

thunderbird that is extremely significant among native american cultures, its a big

symbol of strength and power. Although it didn’t mean the same to every tribe, it was

described as, “ a beast who created loud thunder with just the flap of its wing” and

meant victory in some of the cultures. These symbolic meanings would apply here in

Gilgamesh’s journey, despite being way earlier than when we first saw those in native

american artifacts. It’s so interesting to me the similarity in things from all the way back

when this was written and other ancient civilizations or groups in history that had no

communication with each other yet they all seem to have stories/symbols/or practices

that are closely related. In both this work, and in Native American culture “Thunderbird”

was a legitimate creature though it seemed, even if it was only talked about in a dream

sense and that just got me thinking about all of it.

At the end of this section when Enkidu is suffering and dying his fear was an

important detail in this. It was followed by Gilgamesh’s fear for his own death and trying

to come to terms with that mortality himself and it reminded me of one of the quotes I

wrote down from the introduction which was, “the proper duty of a man is to accept the
mortal life that is his lot and enjoy it to the full.” This story was different from others I

have read or interpreted that involve gods/goddesses when it comes to the concept of

living forever. The main characters are not these all powerful gods with never ending life

spans and it introduces a new element of the fear of dying that is more relatable and

relevant to future people reading. Instead of worrying about living forever, it’s better to

just live a life you love and enjoy the days in the moment.

Question 4

Something I really started to appreciate in the eighth and ninth tablet, is even with

all the repetitiveness and missing pieces, you can still get a good grasp for the story,

and I think it's crazy how well we have been able to translate and preserve this. The

specific imagery in some of the phrases and expressive words add so much to this

story and it is so impressive that we are able to understand what these people were

writing about so incredibly long ago. The words frost, and sunshine and foliage being

used in this section are reminders that despite all the differences in our way of life now

and the way we speak and write in the modern ages, when it comes to describing nature

and all the words they use in that area, we will always be able to relate and comprehend

it. The way humans communicate and write things down so other people can

understand them is beautiful and this story is a great example of that.

In the conclusion of this epic the idea of a plant that was able to grant someone

youth was particularly striking to me. “it has prickles like a dogrose, and will [prick one

who plucks it.] But if you can possess this plant, [you'll be again as you were in your

youth.], “ was how this magical organism was described and I wonder if there is ever
any truth to these kinds of powerful plants written about in fantasy stories. Throughout

humanity people have always looked for things to rejuvenate them or make them appear

and feel young again, such as the fountain of youth or other referenced spells and

charms in movies or books. Obviously I know that this story is fiction, but I like to

imagine if maybe at some point and time people did know more plants and things in

nature with powers we now know nothing about. When I think of how much we know

about what certain plants and animals can do for health, I don’t think it's completely

unlikely that these cultures also had little tricks like this, and maybe a prickly plant that

made someone feel young again really did exist, and we just have no idea.

In class we discussed the need for a revolution one day, and that conversation is

one I have been thinking of since we had it. The beginnings of revolution always just

start with conversations here and there in bigger groups and I think it’s really important

that people do talk about this, because it is exactly what they don’t want us to do. Sasha

said there is strength in numbers, and I think he’s right. It is frustrating watching the

government take away rights or try to keep us in the dark by controlling the knowledge

we get to receive, and hopefully enough people realize it and are angered by it that we

can actually do something.